Act I, Scene 1: The courtiers
Camillo and Archidamus speak of their respective kings, Leontes of Sicilia and
Polixenes of Bohemia, who have been friends since childhood. Polixenes has been
visiting Sicilia and is about to leave. The courtiers also speak of the good
qualities of Leontes' young son, Mamillius, who will certainly make a fine
ruler.

Act I, Scene 2: Leontes tries to persuade Polixenes
to extend his visit, but he insists he must return to Bohemia. Leontes then asks
Queen Hermione to convince him. When she does, Leontes suspects that they are
lovers. He sends them away and talks with Camillo, who forcefully rejects his
suspicions. Insisting that he is correct, Leontes orders Camillo to poison
Polixenes. Camillo reluctantly
agrees, but instead informs Polixenes and they leave together for Bohemia.

Act II, Scene 1: When a lord
tells Leontes of the flight of Polixenes and Camillo, the king rages about
treachery He formally accuses Hermione of adultery and treason declaring that
she is currently pregnant with Polixenes' child. She defends herself, but he
sends her to prison. Although Antigonus and the other lords try to dissuade the
king, he insists that she is an adulteress and adds that he has sent messengers
to the oracle of Apollo for confirmation of this.

Act II, Scene 2: Antigonus'
wife, Paulina, tries to visit Hermione in prison but is only permitted to see
her attendant Emilia, who reports that the queen has given birth to a daughter.
Paulina resolves to take the infant to Leontes and convince him that the child
is his.

Act II, Scene 3: When
Paulina brings the baby to Leontes, he is enraged. He sends her away and orders
the baby killed Antigonus pleads for the infant's life, and Leontes tells him to
take the child-but only to abandon it in some wilderness, where it may or may
not survive Antigonus then leaves with the baby.

Act III, Scene 1: Cleomenes
and Dion return from the oracle and describe its awe-inspiring appearance. They
bear a proclamation answering the king's inquiry.

Act III, Scene 2: Hermione,
accompanied by Paulina, is brought to trial for adultery; she again defends
herself and appeals to the oracle. Cleomenes and Dion read the oracle's
judgment, which proclaims the innocence of Hermione, Polixenes, and Camillo, but
Leontes refuses to believe it. Word then arrives of Mamillius' sudden death from
fright at his mother's fate. Leontes interprets this event as a supernatural
confirmation of the oracle and repents, but Hermione faints and must be taken
away by Paulina. Just as Leontes resolves to welcome Camillo back and apologies
to Polixenes Paulina returns and reports Hermione's death She excoriates
Leontes, and he accepts her criticisms as entirely just.

Act III, Scene 3: In
stormy weather, on a remote part of the Bohemian coast, Antigonus reports a
vision in which the ghost of Hermione instructed him to take the baby there and
to name her Perdita. He is attacked and driven away by a Bear, but a Shepherd
finds the infant. He is joined by his son, the Clown, who has seen Antigonus
being eaten by the bear and his ship sinking m the storm. They discover that
Perdita is wrapped in rich fabrics, which contain a supply of gold.

Act IV, Scene I: Time appears and announces
that 16 years have passed, that Leontes has shut himself off from the world in
grief, and that the story continues in Bohemia. There, he tells us, we shall see
Polixenes' son Florizel, and the 16-year-old Perdita, who lives as the
Shepherd's daughter.

Act IV, Scene 2: Camillo
wishes to return to Sicilia, but Polixenes declares that he is now too important
to the government to be permitted to leave. Moreover, he wants Camillo's help in
preventing Prince Florizel from embarrassing the monarchy by marrying a shepherd
girl.

Act IV, Scene 3: A vagabond,
Autolycus, sings merrily and brags that he is now a petty thief, although he was
once a servant to Florizel. The Clown appears on his way to market to buy
supplies for the upcoming shepherds' feast and Autolycus scents prey. He lies on
the ground and pretends to have been robbed; then, as the Clown helps him rise,
he picks his pocket. The Clown leaves and Autolycus, decides to attend the
festival, which is likely to produce further loot.

Act IV, Scene 4: Perdita
reveals her uneasiness at being courted by Florizel, for she knows that his
father, the king will oppose the match. Florizel insists he will marry her even
if he has to abandon his royal status. The Shepherd and the Clown arrive for the
festival, along with a group including the shepherd girls Mopsa and Dorcas and
the disguised King Polixenes and Camillo. Perdita, as hostess, distributes
flowers among the guests. Mopsa and Dorcas lead a country dance and Autolycus
appears as a wandering peddler. Mopsa and Dorcas flirt with the Clown, who buys
them presents while Autolycus entertains them with Songs; they all leave
together, to continue singing and trading At this point Polixenes reveals
himself and demands that Florizel renounce Perdita. Threatening her and the
Shepherd with death if she sees the prince again he departs in a rage. The
frightened Shepherd flees, and Perdita is in despair, but Florizel declares that
he will not leave her. Camillo proposes that the couple should go to Sicilia,
where they will be welcomed as emissaries of King Polixenes. Once there, they
may eventually gain Polixenes' forgiveness. Autolycus returns, gloating over the
purses he has stolen while selling his goods. Camillo makes him change clothes
with Florizel, providing the prince with a disguise, and Perdita dresses as a
young man. In an aside Camillo reveals that he intends to inform the king of the
couples flight and in pursuit of them, get to Sicilia himself. When they leave,
Autolycus, who has realized what is going on, plots how to profit from it. He
then overhears the Shepherd and Clown planning to explain
to the king that Perdita is not actually their relative, but a foundling. They
have proof in the rich fabrics Perdita was found in, years before. Autolycus
emerges and promises to take them to the king, for money. Privately, he plans to
take them to Florizel and accept the prince's reward for keeping them from the
king.

Act V, Scene 1: In Sicilia, Paulina insists that King Leontes should
never remarry until he encounters Hermione's equal, and he agrees not to marry
without Paulina's approval. Florizel and Perdita arrive, asserting that they
are married. Leontes is delighted to renew relations with the son of his
one-time victim, but then word arrives that Polixenes himself has come to
Sicilia, to arrest his son for eloping with a shepherd's daughter. Florizel
confesses that he and Perdita are not married, but he pleads with Leontes to
defend their love to Polixenes, and Leontes agrees, being greatly attracted by
Perdita.

Act V, Scene 2: Autolycus hears from a Gentleman and his
friends that the king's missing daughter has been found, as the papers among the
Shepherd's bundle of fabrics attest. The Third Gentleman describes the joy and
reconciliation among the kings and their children, who are now considered
engaged. He adds that the royal party has gone to Paulina's home to view a
statue of Hermione. They go off to see it also, leaving Autolycus to bemoan his
bad luck: he had brought the Shepherd and Clown to Florizel's ship, whereby they
had come to Sicilia with their extraordinary evidence, and yet he cannot profit
from it. When the Shepherd and Clown appear, dressed in new clothes and full of
comical pretensions to gentlemanly status, Autolycus flatters them abjectly.

Act V, Scene 3: Leontes, Polixenes, Florizel, Perdita,
and Camillo all accompany Paulina to see her sculpture. They marvel at its
lifelike qualities, and Leontes regrets again his injustice to Hermione herself.
Paulina asserts that she can make them marvel further; she tells the statue to
move, and it walks down off its pedestal and takes Leontes by the hand. She then
explains that the statue is Hermione herself, alive all these years but awaiting
the proper moment for her return. Hermione confirms this account, identifying
herself to Perdita. The king, ecstatic at being reunited with his wife, and
conscious that Florizel and Perdita are soon to marry, insists that Paulina and
Camillo should also wed. The three couples withdraw to savor their happiness.